WHEELING, W.Va. (Jan. 11) – The Wheeling University women's basketball team earned a 64-58 win over Concord in a Mountain East Conference (MEC) contest inside the McDonough Center Saturday afternoon.
 
The win propels the Cardinals to 4-9 overall, 3-5 in the MEC. Meanwhile, the Mountain Lions drop to 6-2 in league play, 9-4 overall.
 
Sophomore forward Lilly Ritz (Cambridge, Ohio/Cambridge) registered a double-double with 14 points and 17 rebounds (three offensive). She also added eight blocked shots, three steals and a team-high five assists. Senior guard Taliah Cashwell (South Charleston, W.Va./South Charleston) posted a game-high 22 points in the victory, while senior guard Khira Burton (Cincinnati, Ohio/Walnut Hills) added 17 points.
 
Neither team led by more than three points in the first quarter and the Cardinals took a 14-13 lead into the first intermission.
 
Concord took its first lead of the second quarter at 20-18 with 5:30 left until halftime. Wheeling responded with a 13-1 run to establish a 31-21 lead with 1:36 to play in the half, before eventually settling for a 33-25 advantage after twenty minutes played.
 
Wheeling built its biggest lead of the day on a Burton jump shot that made the score 40-29 with 6:47 to play in the third quarter. Concord quickly erased the deficit with 10-straight points over the next two minutes, but the Cardinals responded with seven-unanswered to close out the quarter and take a 47-39 lead into the fourth quarter.
 
After Wheeling extended its lead to 10 to start the quarter, the Mountain Lions out-scored the Cardinals 14-4 over the next eight minutes to tie the game at 53-53 with 2:24 to play in the game.
 
Cashwell followed up with a clutch step-back three-point shot to give Wheeling the lead right back with two minutes left on the clock. The Cardinals never looked back and limited Concord to just 2-of-6 shooting in the closing minutes of the game to secure the victory.
 
Wheeling finished the day shooting 24-of-56 (43 percent) and limited MEC leading scorer Madison May (23.8 ppg.) to nine points.

Cardinal freshman guard Jacqui Hinesmon (Cincinnati, Ohio/Princeton) established season-highs with eight rebounds and three assists in the win.
 
Concord's Gracie Robinson led the Mountain Lions with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
 
The Cardinals have a short break before taking on Malone in a non-conference game inside the McDonough Center on Monday, January 13 at 7 p.m.